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Engineering firms call on government to promote technology jobs in the industry

26/01/2012 Engineering firms call on government to promote technology jobs in the...The government must boost its efforts to develop technical training for young people and promote engineering careers and IT jobs to stem the widening skills gap at a crucial time in the engineering world, a group of leading companies have said.

In an open letter to the Daily Telegraph, 16 global engineering companies, including JCB, Siemens, Toshiba and Boeing, have suggested that without reaching out to young Britons, the UK will fail to increase its engineering capacity.

Training Courses to Suffer with Downgrading the Engineering Diploma

They criticised the government's plans to downgrade the value of the Engineering Diploma, suggesting that fewer people will study for the qualification and seek out a career in engineering.

Indeed, plans forming part of a wider review into vocational studies propose the diploma to be worth just one GCSE rather than the current five.

"The Engineering Diploma is widely recognised as a significant route to providing the crucial technical and practical skills that young people will need to build a Britain that can compete effectively and internationally where technology can make such a difference to our digital world," the letter explained.

Business leaders, headed by the president of the Institution of Engineering and Technology Mike Short, warned that devaluing the qualification will undermine any efforts to create a pipeline of talent to the industry.

However, a spokesman from the Department for Education (DfE) defended the plans. He told the news provider that the skills gap will be strengthened by the expansion of University Technical Colleges, as well as a reform to the vocational qualification system.

A future skills gap in technology jobs? Encouraging women could be the answer.

The issue of a knowledge gap of science, technology, engineering and maths (Stem) among young people has been raised by a number of organisations. 

Earlier this month, games trade association TIGA called the situation "concerning", while the Royal Society recently called for the DfE to address the lack of specialist IT teachers in the UK.

One of the ways to encourage young people, particularly girls, to consider a Stem career is to target them from a very young age and provide role models of women in technology.

Indeed, research by ASPIRES at King's College London, found that children from as young as ten-years-old have decided that they do not want to work in science.

Parental influence on science careers

The team found that parents were also a heavy influence in whether or not their children saw the benefits of learning the subject, with a significant number even holding the view that science careers are for boys, an issue that could largely affect a future skills gap in the industry. The researchers suggested that teaching about the careers students can have with Stem skills should be given at Key Stage 3.

 

womenintechnology has a dedicated careers advice service for women, graduates and experienced professional looking for technology and IT jobs.
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